Today we all loaded into Margaret’s van and went on a road trip through the beautiful central tablelands. The map below shows our route (Eve A., the map’s for you!).
The central tablelands are part of the Capertee Valley, the second biggest valley in the world. The Great Dividing Range is a mountain range running essential the length of Australian down the eastern part of the country. The Great Dividing Range is an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus, hilly upland areas and escarpments. To get to Rylstone from Sydney we drive through and over the Great Dividing range. It is visible from almost anywhere in the central tablelands area, which is just to the west of the mountains.
We set off from Rylstone at about 9:30 a.m. Very soon we were off on a dirt road bumping along through marvelous country. Margaret doesn’t seem to mind driving on dirt roads. She’s a very good driver. And it’s nice that we have a minivan, which was Ray’s and now is Margaret’s, so that we can all be together. Clare and Daniel sit in the third seat while Christine and I sit in the middle. Christine was sitting up front with Margaret, but I think she does better not in the front because seeing the narrow road and fearing oncoming cars causes anxiety. It has been an adventure on these road trips that have been mostly on dirt roads!
All of the photos in this post, until we are in Lithgow, were taken through the car window, so some aren’t quite clear. But you can get a sense for the grassland flats and then the huge sandstone escarpments in the mountains. These dirt roads go through areas of lush bush that show the scars of bushfires. Nearly all the trees have blackened trunks and we drove miles and miles through areas previously burned.
The vistas over the flat areas showing the Great Dividing Range off in the distance were glorious.
We eventually came to the very tiny town of Glen Davis. It had its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s as a shale oil town. It sits at the base of some very tall sandstone escarpments and is very isolated.
The road back to the main highway included some great views of a couple of high escarpments and peaks.
It’s difficult to see a long view of the Capertee Valley because there is road construct going on there. The place where there was a scenic lookout is being used for staging of equipment and construction material, so you can’t really see the full extent of the valley. One would actually not know that the Capertee Valley was there because the road is far above the floor of the valley. I did try to snap a shot on our drive by.
Margaret had an appointment in Lithgow to get one of the doors on the van fixed, so she wisely had combined our road trip through the tablelands with the run to Lithgow. We had lunch at McDonald’s and then walked into the town center. We passed Queen Elizabeth Park and strolled through, admiring the nice rose garden.
It wasn’t long before the van was done. Unfortunately, the door requires a part but at least it can be opened from the inside now. So we settled back in the van for the return trip to Rylstone, a drive of about 75 minutes. I enjoy the ride and we go through, or see signs for, wonderful small towns with great names like Marangaroo, Wallerawang, Cullen Bullen, Capertee, Kadisha, Round Swamp, Running Stream, and Clandulla. I’ll say it again, it’s beautiful country, and a joy to experience.
We arrived back home after a long day of riding, had dinner, and watched tennis again. We are really enjoying the tennis matches, although we all grunt, groan, and yelp with each long rally. It’s stressful to us, so we turned it off tonight and went to bed on the early side. Another day of touring is planned for tomorrow, so we need our rest.
As ever, marvellous writing (“I feel like I’m there “ and other hackneyed expressions on my mind. But, moreso, O Linda ! However did you miss your town ?
Love to both Christine and to you, wm
Yes I DO like the maps